Hotel Gets Go-ahead For Its Balcony-safety Plan

DAYTONA BEACH — A plan by owners of a hotel to seal off balconies during spring break was approved by a city board that granted them a temporary exemption from local building regulations.

The Daytona Beach Board of Adjustments and Appeals on Wednesday granted Chuck and Jack Penrod a variance from a building code that requires some natural ventilation in rooms where people sleep.

Chuck Penrod plans to bolt shut doors and windows leading to the balconies of The Plaza of Daytona Beach to prevent students from falling. Balconies will be sealed from Saturday until mid-April.

Board members and Michael McGibeny, fire chief and chief building official, supported Penrod's efforts to avert tragedy. Last spring, three drunken students fell to their deaths from highrise balconies in the Daytona Beach area. Nearly every year students are injured climbing on or jumping from balconies.

McGibeny said the board considered the impact on the safety of the hordes of college students who flock to The Plaza each spring. The variance would be in effect only during spring break, he said.

Chuck Penrod presented his ideas for a safer spring break to other Daytona Beach area hoteliers at a Thursday night meeting of the Hotel-Motel Association of the Greater Daytona Beach Area.

He is taking other security measures. Guards will be posted on every floor. Students will be forbidden to bring cases of alcoholic beverages to their rooms, and guests will be required to carry identification cards.

Penrod wants to dispel the no-holds-barred attitude associated with his recently acquired hotel during past spring breaks. He said the precautions have worked at his hotel-nightclub in Fort Lauderdale, which also attracts many college students.

In another development, plans to hold a sports festival as a wholesome alternative to beer parties got a boost from the Halifax Area Advertising Authority. The authority, which promotes tourism in the Daytona Beach area, agreed to pay for $4,400 worth of promotional materials.

Authority member Dick Moores said the group, along with many hotel and motel owners, believes the National Collegiate Sports Festival ''is a positive effort'' and an attempt to get away from the drinking and rowdy behavior associated with vacationing college students.

Festival promoters want to substitute athletic competition between colleges throughout the country for drinking activities.

Their effort was hurt earlier this month when Alex Bray, executive vice president for The Chamber, Daytona Beach-Halifax Area, said the festival did not qualify for advertising authority funds.

The chamber will be responsible for spending the money at the direction of festival sponsors. It will pay for press releases, photos, paper, stamps, stationery and brochures.

Casey Leydon, the festival's main organizer, said press releases promoting the festival will be sent to 700 college newspapers.